Band:	Fallujah
Album:	The Flesh Prevails
Style:	Progressive death metal
Release date:	July 22, 2014
A review by:	ScreamingSteelUS

01. Starlit Path
02. Carved From Stone
03. The Night Reveals
04. The Flesh Prevails
05. Levitation
06. Alone With You
07. Allure
08. Sapphire
09. Chemical Cave

Fallujah have undergone quite the evolution since their debut EP. Beginning life as an out-and-out deathcore band with nothing more than inventive riffs and a few blackened passages to set them apart, they have introduced more progressive and atmospheric elements with each release. The Flesh Prevails marks a true change in Fallujah, from better-than-average players in a populous scene to innovators of a rising and complex one.

Fallujah's riffs melt over each other like butter one minute and grind each other into a fine paste the next. Their solos waltz in and out like they own the place, dripping warm, full-bodied notes over landscapes that alternate between scorching tech death and synth-borne atmospheres. Aggression is well-placed - tempered without being confined, indulged without being reckless. Fallujah know how to effectively employ heart-stopping technicality without bulldozing through these nine songs; their combination of brutal heaviness and thoughtful atmospherics makes this album not only unique but a magnificent work of art.

The Flesh Prevails superimposes forceful growls and destructive drumming over a flowing, spacey blanket of reflective dream sounds; the impeccable solos bridge the gap, effortlessly dancing from chilled-out noodling to metallic fret domination as if nothing truly separated the two. With the ease, grace, and poise of a ballet-dancing neurosurgeon, Fallujah flit and slide and catapult from note to note, sound to sound in a waterfall of sweet-smelling luxury. This album is a rainbow cascade of cold, hard metal and sublime, cool synthscapes all in perfect balance.

The Flesh Prevails exhibits a mature, graceful Fallujah - a Fallujah that knows exactly what it wants to sound like and how to achieve it. This album succeeds all the way through, from "Starlit Path" to "Chemical Cave"; not a note out of place, not one more or less than is needed. By far, this is Fallujah's best release thus far.